ADA and Burger King?!? Has someone been eating too many Whoppers? No. But I did spend a 20 minute Uber ride yesterday sucking down mustard packets. Actually, the inspiration for this post comes from Seattle Attorney, Michael Harrington, who presented "The Wild, the Weird and the Wonderful FMLA/ADAAA Cases…And the Lessons for Employers!" with me yesterday at the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) FMLA/ADAAA Employer Compliance Conference. (If you want a copy of our PPT, please email me. I got you.) During the takeaways from our presentation,...

Yes, the candidate experience at your organization is miserable. You’d think that with all the shiny new technology, channels for communication and platforms for social media interaction, organizations would have figured out a way to create a kinder candidate experience. But in 2015, most companies continue to leave bad impressions and drive people away. The aspects of the job search that seem to especially irritate candidates are the application process and the lack of communication post-interview. Bad job descriptions and hiring managers who take months to make a decision...

The SHRM 2015 Talent Conference & Exposition More than 1,300 HR professionals and recruiters gather in San Diego from April 27-29 to discuss hiring and job-related topics during the SHRM Talent Management Conference & Exposition.   [View the story "SHRM 2015 Talent Management Conference & Exposition #SHRMTalent" on Storify]  ...

  Relocating to a new city can be a very stressful experience for employees, especially if they have never lived in the country they are moving to. It can also be very expensive for companies, with major repercussions on budget and productivity. Based on my learning’s as the CEO and founder of MOVE Guides, working with market leaders across various industries, these are what I recognize as the top five ways for global mobility and HR professionals to improve the relocation process, and set their...

  One of the biggest keys to success in any career is mentorship.  Research over the last 30 years suggests that finding the right mentor can serve as a true lever for career success.  In HR, the role of mentoring can be absolutely pivotal in preventing faux pas and learning the virtues of leadership and navigation, a core competency.  Each time I think of mentorship I recall the impact my mentors have had and key incidents where I learned the most.  Take for example one of the greatest lessons learned from my graduate mentor, Vish Viswesvaran.  I was early in...

Happy SafeDay 2015 April 28th is SafeDay - the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.  A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers, and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention. In putting together our not-so-best-selling book, The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention, we did a lot of research on human...

  The 2015 SHRM Talent Management Conference & Exposition is underway, and shortly after the engaging speaker series and effective networking concludes, the National Football League (NFL) Draft will be kicking off. An NFL franchise, like any other high-performance organization, must leverage talent as a source of competitive advantage. Whether it's competing for a Super Bowl (and fans) or for the Fortune 500 ranking (and customers), an organization's ability to acquire top talent plays an integral role in getting them to the top. ...

On April 29, @shrmnextchat chatted with Executive Editor of RecruitingDaily.com @MattCharney about the State of the Candidate Experience. In case you missed it, here are all the great tweets from the chat:   [View the story "#Nextchat RECAP: The Candidate Experience" on Storify]  ...

  What do employees want? When Work Works, the joint partnership of SHRM and Families and Work Institute (FWI) can help you answer this key question. Here are our top five hints. They want 1) work-life fit, even on factory floors, 2) advice on how to speak with managers about flexible work options (workflex), 3) companies that create effective and flexible workplaces, 4) employers who walk the talk when it comes to workflex, and 5) help, particularly male employees, dealing with family caregiver responsibilities. 1. Work-Life Fit,...

Keeping your boat afloat (and headed in the right direction) I have often heard the phrase "whatever floats your boat" and never gave it much thought.  During a recent period of reflection I gave the boat metaphor some more thought and found that it might be a good way to describe each one of us in our lives and our careers.  Let me take a few moments today to describe what I know about boats and keeping them afloat and headed in the right direction.  By adopting this kind of mindset I think each one of us might have a...

  "If you have innovative employees, but a workplace culture that doesn't support them, they will fail." ~ Ben Casnocha   Today’s super-talented employees are fired up by the desire to transform themselves, their companies and the world, and they want an employer that will allow them the freedom to do this. Without a supportive workplace culture that encourages experimentation, the innovators will fail-and eventually move on. At the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2015 Talent Management Conference & Exposition, closing general session speaker, award-winning Silicon Valley entrepreneur ...

Since 2006, I have interviewed hundreds of leaders and surveyed more than 6,000 employees about toxic leadership. Ultimately, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the topic. Many have asked about my findings, so I’m writing a series of short posts describing what I learned. I’ll start here by describing what toxic leadership is, then I’ll discuss why toxic leaders get promoted to begin with, why they survive in leadership roles, and what employees can do about their toxic bosses. Since many articles use the term "toxic leadership" in different ways, I conducted...

  Are your employees holding your company hostage? Of course not- you’re the manager, right? Your employees don’t determine the functionality or success of your department- management does… Or do they? Hopefully, toxic employees at your company are few and far between, but even one toxic employee can contribute to the catastrophic One-Layer-Deep Effect. The One-Layer-Deep Effect occurs when only one employee is knowledgeable or responsible for doing a task that is essential to the day-to-day activity of the business. For instance, I have consulted a company that had a very experienced, very knowledgeable account representative that had been on staff for...

Similar to Brigadoon—the magical Scottish village of Broadway musical fame that appears for only one day every hundred years -the SHRM Annual Conference & Exhibition bustles with activity for 4 days once a year.  And then it’s gone. In Brigadoon, all citizens are forbidden to leave the town or it will disappear forever. It’s the opposite with Annual Conference. Everybody has to leave on July 1—when the applause for the last concurrent session has faded, the SHRMStore has packed up the last box, and the Exhibit Hall is just a big empty space. ...

  Vegas, 2007. That was the first SHRM conference I ever attended. I was 22 and had no idea what SHRM even stood for. Since then, I’ve attended 15 annual and state SHRM conferences as a keynote speaker, vendor, volunteer and even as a SHRM contractor. I’ve seen and experienced a few things, and in this post, I’ll share my learning lessons as a vendor, speaker, volunteer and attendee to help you get the most of your SHRM conference experience. Attendee Lessons Lesson #1: Ask Questions I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen anxious...

In my last post, I described the five dimensions of toxic leadership. Many people are shocked that their toxic bosses ever got promoted in the first place. In my research and practice, I have found some common reasons behind a toxic leader's rise to power: 1. Promoting Technical Expertise: Leading is different than doing. Many toxic leaders were actually quite good at their jobs before they got promoted. As individual contributors, they were experts. But companies often lack creativity when it comes to rewarding staff. Instead, they rely on promotions and titles...

  The terminology Employee Engagement has been over-used to the point that the inspiration behind the phrase has become a commodity. All those stupid studies that say only 10% of the workforce are engaged are total bullshit! Really.... 1 in 10 people enjoy their job?Really.... 9 out of 10 people would rather work somewhere else? Give me a break! I've been a blogger (for better and for worse) in the Human space for 8 years. There are a lot of people I thoroughly respect as HR Bloggers because they ignore convention and reflect the reality of the work experience... for...

  Last week I flew to Dubai for a speaking engagement and learned so much about human nature I couldn’t help but share it with you.  Imagine for a moment you’re flying eight thousand miles to an amazing destination where you will speak six hours after touching down.  You want your rest.  You need to make the most of that business-class flight and practice your speech a few times before getting at least a couple hours of sleep.  To be fair, my journey had one stop in London where my plan was thrown out the...

Identity theft and fraud are on the rise, and the nation’s workforce is being hit especially hard in the form of unemployment benefits fraud. Take for example the following: A victim discovered through a letter from the U.S. Department of Education that someone posing as him had racked up $15,000 in financial aid. The identity thief filled out applications using the victim’s name, date of birth and Social Security number (SSN), and claimed zero income in order to qualify for the loans. After 10 months and enlisting knowledgeable outside assistance, the victim...

  May is Mental Health Month. It’s an opportunity to have a conversation about an issue that affects every single American and to help people find treatment they may need, and emphasize the importance of workplace wellness in May and every month of the year. The truth is though; we shouldn’t just talk about mental health one month a year. Unlike so many illnesses, Americans don’t talk about mental health over the course of the year—or ever, really. That needs to change. In our country, there’s no shame in having high cholesterol, cancer or diabetes. We...

  In my previous posts, I discussed what toxic leadership is and how toxic leaders get into supervisory roles. Here I will explain why toxic leaders survive, even when they are clearly bad for individuals, teams, and organizations. Toxic Leaders Deliver Results: Unfortunately, toxic leaders survive because they tend to deliver excellent short-term results. The public humiliation, micromanagement, and other toxic behaviors motivate employees to work hard and avoid being punished. From the perspective of a senior executive, the toxic leader is meeting...

On May 6, @shrmnextchat chatted with SHRM Young Professional Council member Callie Zipple (@CallieZipple) about Alliance Building - The Future of Employment. In case you missed this excellent chat, here are all the tweets:   [View the story "#Nextchat RECAP: Alliance Building - The Future of Employment" on Storify]  ...

  This past week I had a very cool experience !! I was one of the judges for the SHRM Student Case Study competition. I sat with two other great HR pros from the area as we heard graduate students from various schools give their take on an HR scenario. It was very cool to hear their approaches which ranged from a traditional HR viewpoint to some that were extremely creative. I was so geeked to see so many students come in and share. It helped to continue to dispel the stereotype that the most recent generation is so "different"...

  Have you ever had a rough day only to be buoyed by a kind word from your supervisor?  Have you ever stopped and thought "I love working here. My boss truly respects my opinion."?  Is it clear that leadership respects employees throughout your organization? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, the likelihood is your workforce is engaged and satisfied. A new survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found 72% of employees rank "respectful treatment of all employees at all levels" to be the most important factor in job satisfaction...